


Winter

by thechickadee



Category: Saturday Night Live RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 02:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1088664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thechickadee/pseuds/thechickadee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's wintertime, and I thought it was time for a story that has a warm, happy feeling to get us through the cold. Enjoy, and don't forget to click the kudos button if you liked it! :)</p>
<p>dedicated to mah girl LP! merry xmas!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter

To most people, winter lasts three months.

To Amy, it lasts one day.

The snow falls silently in white flakes outside the small window. Amy can stand pressed up against the glass on the 17th floor and just barely see the crowds of people on the streets below. 

She's warm and happy, surrounded by her second family, the one made up of childish adults that bring laughter to her life. 

She's wearing the red and white striped hat Tina gave her, even though it makes her look comically similar to a candy cane. But, of course, that's why Tina gave it to her in the first place. 

Her breath fogs up the window and she wipes it clear with her sweater sleeve. Her too-large, gaudy sweater is red with purple, glittering reindeer prancing across it, and green Christmas trees lining the bottom. It's the sweater Seth gave her after their first Christmas episode together.   
Tina says it's the ugliest sweater she's ever seen. 

Amy thinks it's beautiful. 

Tina hands her a glass of eggnog and joins her by the window, peering down at the giant mass of New Yorkers crowding around the unlit Christmas tree. 

This is only Amy's third tree-lighting party at 30 rock, but it's already her favorite day of the year; it defines winter. And what better place to spend winter than staring down at the Rockefeller Christmas tree, surrounded by people she loves, in a place she always dreamed of being?

Tina's eyes track the movement of the skaters, and it's clear to Amy that Tina still finds this day magical, after all these years. Amy smiles, satisfied that she'll never get bored of this day, or the view from the seventeenth floor, or the wonderful people around her. 

She leaves the window for a while, letting Tina have her moment. 

The writers' room is warm and alive, glowing with holiday spirit and warm smiles.   
She takes off her shoes and sits in the big sofa chair, her feet tucked under her, warmed by her fuzzy green socks. 

There are more than thirty people in the room, talking, laughing, having a good time, and she sits and sips her eggnog, waiting, watching, savoring every sound, every moment. She only gets one winter a year. 

 

She glances at the clock. There's still half an hour until the tree gets lit. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath through her nose, and the smell of coffee and pine and hot chocolate fill her with the essence of winter. 

She looks back outside, and the snow is falling faster now, the whirling white flakes standing out against the darkening sky. 

Someone trips and stumbles into the room, grinning from ear to ear, despite the snickers from around the room.

It's Seth.

He made it.

His blue hat is speckled with white, and water rolls off his jacket, dripping to the floor. His cheeks and nose are bright red, and his eyes twinkle with joy as two writers tackle him in a hug and reprimand him for being late. 

His loud, bubbling laugh is music to her ears, and she can't control the smile that lights up her face when he looks her way and throws her a lopsided grin, dimples and all. 

His hair is disheveled and sticking up in every direction, and she laughs as he tries to smooth it down, only making it worse. 

He takes off his jacket and warmth spreads through her. He's wearing the sweater she gave him last year. 

It's even uglier than hers, she and Tina both agree. It's forest green, with a giant cat in the middle wearing a red sweater that says, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" He says he likes it because of how grumpy the cat looks. He says it reminds him of her when she's angry, and now whenever she gets mad at him, he bursts out laughing and says, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"  
It's infuriating, but endearing.

He makes his way over and squeezes next to her in the chair, even thought there's really only room for one. She picks up her feet and swings them in an arc over his lap so that she's leaning against the cushiony arm of the chair, her knees bent, leaning sideways against him. 

She's facing the window, and people are crowding around all the windows now, waiting, watching. Somebody turns the lights off in the room, and it's dark and quiet. 

Seth wraps his arms around her small frame in a warm hug as they watch the snow fall thickly outside. 

Amy can barely see the tree; the night is now dark, and she can just make out the snow swirling in the air.

Then, the world lights up outside, and the star at the top of the tree shines to the heavens. There's a collective gasp of wonder around the room, and Amy's breath catches in her throat. 

The colorful bobbles adorning the tree catch the light and bounce it around, and the illuminated snowflakes dance wildly around the green branches. The tree basks in its own magnificence, finally lit. 

Amy looks up at Seth and the light is everywhere around her, flooding every corner and shining in his grey-blue eyes.

Everything she could possibly want in life was right here, right now; she's sure of it. 

The pure magic of this day fills her until her heart is overflowing, and she leans her head against his chest as he holds her tighter. 

Normally, he smells clean and sweet, but today, his sweater smells of Christmas. She tilts her head up slightly and his neck smells like fresh snow and winter and warmth.

She could breathe this all day for the rest of her life. 

But she'll settle for this one day a year. 

She closes her eyes, his heartbeat filling her ears and lulling her into calm, gentle sleep.  
She knows he'll fall asleep too, and they'll stay sleeping until Tina wakes them up. She knows morning will come and it will be tomorrow and she will have to leave his arms. Tomorrow will be day one out of three hundred and sixty-four, and she will leave his arms and go home.

But today is three sixty-five. It's her one winter a year. So she'll stay, curled warmly in his embrace until the dawn comes and steals her away, until the sun melts the very tops of the trees and calls her home.

She'll stay until winter is over.


End file.
